Introductory Session (July 6)

[cgao]

What was there before the two Koreas? What should we know about Korean history?

Video: Introduction and 5 Things to Know about the Two Koreas

 

 

Reading (download below):

• Korea at a Glance, infographics

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[Jasmine Weeks]

This is very interesting and eye openning, especially with the the power of women in the society that I had misunderstood,  and unlike the Chinese culture, which is just next door to Korea.  Prior to this, I was not aware of the heavy influence of Chinese culture and ideology into Korean culture and politics.  Just like Japanese language which has a lot of CHinese influence in it, there are similar words and pronunciation I notice between Chinese and Korea characters.  I wonder there are also some cross between Japanese and Korean languages since there was a period of time when Japn pccupied Korea.I also would be interested to learn more which Chiense dialect influence Korean language the most since I am an lanaguage teacher. 

It isinteresting to find out that North and South Korea have alomost exclusive trading partners besdies China.  I wonder do goods come from North and South Koreas marked differently.

One thing about North Korea that I am surpirsed about is the high employment rate of 25%.  Before this, I had the misconception that everyone in the communist society, everyone was being "assigned  a job".  Since i am not in history major, I ownder how job assignment in commuinism works. 

Last, since Kalbi, a Korea beef ribs dish, is such a popular item in Korean restaurant but it's not the top ten in Korean society.  I wonder if this is one of those American/ Western favorite of Korean dish. 

[Nancy Marvel]

I really found that 10 minute video to be quite interesting and very informative. I know some basic information; however, I didn't have a clue how far back the establishment of Korea was or how economically powerful South Korea is. I also assumed (incorrectly) that the women in society played a supporting role to the males and the rule of primogeniture was custom; thus, it was incredibly enlightening to find out the reality of the power that woman have. I am curious if the woman's ability to marry/divorce/remarry and have financial control of the family's monies is the reality in North Korea as well?

[Meghann Seril]

Thank you for giving us the basics about the two Koreas. Something that was surprising was the population number relative to the land area. I imagine that different aspects of life are greatly impacted including housing accommodations and access to green space. One thing that I could discuss with my third graders is the choice of symbols for each flag and what that projects about the values and priorities of each country.

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

Wow, I had never really thought about how it is in NK. I know NK expects all women to work as well, but the "second shift" really affects them. I don't know if NK women have the same degree of financial control, but I have heard that NK women even before 1945 were often the household managers, so perhaps that carries to today. I will see if I can get more info on this. 

 

[Laura Huffman]

I appreciate this short introductory video and the infographics about modern Korea. One of the things I've always found striking about Korea that has stuck with me ever since I learned it is that it is the only country (at least that I can think of ) that was divided after a war although it was really a non-combatant. Korea was a Japanese colony before WWII, and Japan an enemy/aggressor/'loser' in the war, and yet it is Korea that is divided, like Germany was, not Japan. I'm also curious about Hangul, the Korean alphabet, and the language. Although the 'two whales' (China/Japan) in the tired trope "shrimp between two whales"  both use characters, Korean uses an alphabet instead, a pretty remarkable thing for a comparitively small country. With this video, I really appreciated the emphasis on women. I've always been interested in women's history, and have found it difficult to find reliable sources in English regarding both historic and modern Korean women and their status in society. It seems like even in my relatively minimal contact with Korean culture through Korean novels and K-dramas that there hasn't really been much of a women's movement in Korea, that many women are still expected to either not have children if they want a career (perhaps contributing to the population decline?) or, if they have children, to stay home with them, and quit their careers. I don't see many representations of working mothers in modern Korean culture. Are there day cares in Korea? How prevalent/expensive are they? When did women in South Korea get the right to vote? Aside from the well-known women president/prime-ministers in modern Korean history, how many women serve in the legislature, or are mayors? I'd love to learn as much as possible about this, and am excited for this opportunity!

[Kathy Keffeler]

This very professional grade video provides a good overview/introduction to Korea. Thank you. I really enjoyed the infographics although some were hard to read as the print was so small.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

My name is Kimberly and I teach middle school World History and US History in a Spanish Immersion program in San Diego. Last summer I attended Gender and Generation in Asia and it was extremely interesting and eye-opening.

Since I attended that seminar, I knew most of the information in the video, but this was a good refresher of the points most pertinent to the new topic. I am excited to learn more about North Korea and the relationship between the two Koreas, and to figure out how I can better connect Korea's ancient and medieval history to topics of today.

[Tom Mueller]

I did post to this forum before, but it seems that I must have not completed it correctly.  This was a very interesting video and I was very interested in the power of women in Korea.  It sounds like Korean women are like my wife - I call her the CFO of our family...LOL.  What are the similarities and differences (in power) between Korean women and non - Korean women (Filapino and Vietanmese, etc.)?

[Heather Butler]

This video was very informative. As someone who has been more exposed to the Korean Wave through K-pop and K-dramas recently, just this basic information, gave me more background to the K-dramas that I have been enjoying. I didn't realize how much power that Korean women held from history, especially in political positions. The infographic gave an excellent explanation of the two Korean flags, which would be great to use in my classes, to discuss how symbolism is used in designing flags, that makes connections to the story of the place. Also, I was unaware that Korean type predated the Gutenberg press, and that would make for a good discussion with students, how history has been taught in a very Western-centric and whitewashed manner in the US. In addition, bimbibap is one of my favorite dishes.

[Alyssa Yff]

Thank you for the information! I found the economic data on both countries really fascinating.  I know there are significant differences between North Korea and South Korea, but I didn't realize just how large the gaps in economic performance (GDP, Exports, etc) were between the two nations.  I also found the video very informative.  The March 1st movement is fascinating and a moment where women/girls really take an active role in decolonization.  Its inspirational.  I also find the time period of Japanese control to be fascinating and I am curious how these events have shaped the relationship between the East Asian nations.  Are there still tensions between Japan and the Koreas?  It appears that China is a trading partner of both nations, but really important with North Korea.  How does Russia fit into this picture as they were close in the past?  Anyways, I am really excited to learn more about the Koreas and use this knowledge in my classroom next year!

[Julie Wakefield]

Great, quick overview of the two Koreas. My students definitely know BTS and other aspects of K-Pop.  🙂

I am looking forward to learning more about North Korea as this is an area/issue has alway interested me...not sure why. We are receiving more information in the past three-four years than previously but I look forward to stories of the people, how they live (survive), etc. I think their political relations are fascinating for a country who claims to be self-sufficient. And when we see a headline like we did a few weeks ago about the health of the leader....can we believe this or is it 'western' media over-exaggerating?

[Juana Evink]

I enjoyed this very informational video on the history of the 2 Koreas. I founded interesting how Korea has had its current border since 1392 and how big in size it actually is. Also, how much freedom and economic power have Korean women enjoyed through its history. Women  decide what to do with the family money, they can be prime minister, and president of the country. It's remarkable, since that is not the case in the U.S., were we still haven't have a woman president. Korea has a long and interesting history.

[Jane Hannon]

I was very surprised and interested to learn of the high status accorded to women in ancient Korea. While I was aware that women play prominent roles in public life in both North and South Korea in the 21st century, I did not realize that upper class women enjoyed such high status in ancient times, with married women residing with their natal families and holding inheritance rights.

I also did not realize that North Korea is so heavily involved in world trade, especially exports of computer technology. This helps me to understand why imposing sanctions on North Korea is significant; it seems doing so could significantly impact China. Finally I was surprised that North Korea, as a Communist country, had such high unemployment rate, although I had anecdotally heard that it was difficult to find work in North Korea

 

[Maria Cardenas]

Before the two Koreas, Korea was part of the Japanese empire. The video was very informative because it told you about how people lived in the Korean peninsula since the Paleolithic times. I loved the visuals shown in the video representing the different inventions that existed in Korea. Very interesting to see and read about the different economies of both Koreas. I found it interesting that the unemployment from the infographics of North Korea is much higher than South Korea. I was also wondering why isn't there a much recent data for each country, North Korea's was from 2013 and South Korea's was from 2015. 

I feel that people should know the rich Korean history instead of just thinking that people from Asia may be inferior to the Western History. People should also learn about the strong women that contributed to the Korean society. They should stop thinking of Korean women as quiet and submissive. I found it interesting that "Historically, class was more important than gender." The fact that people would have prefered to be a woman aristrocat than a man peasant is interesting. Even comparing American history during colonial times to those of Korean women it seems that Korean women had more power. 

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